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Lee Min Ho
Lee Min Ho is a South-Korean actor and singer. He first gained widespread popularity in Korea and some parts of Asia in his role as Gu Jun Pyo in the 2009 Korean drama series, Boys Over Flowers. His role enabled him to garner the Best New Actor award in the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards. He is also well-known for his lead roles as Kim Dam Ryeong in Legend Of The Blue Sea and Kim Tan in The Heirs. He became one of the most successful and well-known Korean actors who gained fame not only South Korea but in almost the whole wide world. Overview Name: Lee Min Ho Hangul: 이민호 Stage Name/Aliases: None Age: 30 Birthdate: June 22,1987 Birthplace: Heukseuk Dong,Dong Jak Gu,Seoul,South Korea Occupation: Actor/Singer Country Of Origin: South Korea Star Sign: ''Cancer'' Height: 187 cm./6'1 ft. Weight: 71 kg. Blood Type: A'' '''Biography' Birth/Childhood Min Ho was born on Heukseuk Dong,Dong Jak Gy,Seoul,South Korea on June 22,1987 to a family that consists of his mother, his father and his older sister, Lee Yong Jung. His first passion was not acting but football and as a young child, he worked hard to achieve his dream, to become a professional football player. Unfortunately, an injury in his 5th grade elementary ended those dreams, but still, Min Ho strived hard to bring back himself into playing soccer and makes former football player Cristiano Ronaldo as his inspiration. Teenage Years In the 2nd year of his high school, Min Ho decided to start a new passion in the world of acting. He started his auditions with the help of his acquaintance in Starhaus Entertainment during his senior high school years. He decided to start in minor drama roles in several television dramas such as Nonstop 5 and Recipe of Love after undergoing acting lessons and drama trainings. He also realized that he might need to pursue not only acting but education. He went into Konkuk University where he took major in Film Arts which he supposed will also help him harness his talent skills. Career Beginning As mentioned, Min Ho first landed in minor TV drama roles. His official debut in professional acting was in EBS series, Secret Campus of 2003. His early career exposed him to showbiz industry as 'Lee Min' which was pronounced as 'Immin', since the entertainment corporation thought that his name was too ordinary and typical. However, the pronunciation of his stage name made it difficult to find his profile in internet search results. He then, decided to use his original name 'Lee Min Ho'. In the apprising peak of his stardom, an unfortunate event happened to him. In August 2006, while riding a car with his fellow actor, Jung Il Woo, a vehicle accident occurred that inflicted him several serious injuries and wounds which became the hindrance in his showbiz projects. He spent several months in hospital in bed for his recovery. Upon recovery, Lee received his first leading role in the high school drama Mackerel Run in 2007, but the series was reduced to only eight episodes due to low viewership ratings. In 2008 he appeared in various roles on television dramas such as Get Up And I Am Sam and two movies, Public Enemy Returns and Our School's E.T.. During the shooting of the latter he became good friends with actor Kim Su Ro, who later praised him on a variety show: Breakthrough Min Ho's breaking stardom came in his lead role as Gu Jun Pyo in the 2009 high school romance drama series, Boys Over Flowers, the Korean adaptation of the popular Shojo manga of the same name. According to the directors, the competition for Min Ho's lead role was very intense and difficult that Min Ho only knew he was part of the cast in a daily newspaper. The series attracted high viewership rating throughout South Korea and several parts of Asia. Lee's new-found popularity gained him many endorsement deals and created another Korean Wave throughout Asia which made Lee a Hallyu star. In 2010, Lee starred in romantic comedy Personal Taste, in which he played an ambitious perfectionist young architect who poses as a gay man to become roommates with a young woman, leading to romantic complications. When asked about why he chose the role during an interview he responded In 2011, he played the honorary character in action drama City Hunter, which was loosely based on Tsukasa Hojo's popular manga. The drama was a commercial success across Asia, and contributed to Lee's growing popularity, most notably in Japan, Philippines, China, and some parts of Europe. He participated in a popular Chinese variety show Happy Camp in December 2011. In 2012, Lee starred in historical-medical drama, Faith with Kim Hee-sun. Although the drama garnered viewership ratings around the 10% range, it was a commercial flop due to its high budget. International Fame/Present In April 2013, Lee's increasing figure was unveiled at the Madame Tussauds in Shanghai. He then released his first album "My Everything" in May 2013 and went on a fan meeting tour in Asia. In December 2013, Lee also announced his return to television with a new drama titled The Heirs, a teen drama written by Kim Eun-sook. On why he decided to take on the role of a chaebol heir in high school four years after playing one in Boys Over Flowers, he answered: Premiering on October 9, 2013, The Heirs enjoyed immense popularity both locally, with a peak rating of 28.6%, and internationally, having over one billion hits on the Chinese streaming website iQiyi. Lee experienced an increase in his popularity, particularly in China. On January 30, 2014, Lee became the first Korean celebrity to perform on China's CCTV Lunar New Year gala. Min Ho sang a song with Harlem Yu, the original singer of the theme song of Meteor Garden, the Taiwanese version of Boys Over Flowers. He was also invited to the third conference of the South Korean Presidential Committee for Cultural Enrichment as the representative for the entertainment industry, to share and contribute to the discussion of issues related to developing Korea's cultural content. Lee received the "Prime Minister Award" at the 5th Korean Popular Culture & Arts Award for his contribution to Hallyu. Lee subsequently recorded and released his second EP Song for You in October 2014 under Universal Music. As with his previous album, he stated that the tracks were recorded for his fans and that he had no ambition to pursue a singing career. The album release coincided with the start of his RE:MINHO fan meeting tour which spanned various Asian cities. He then took on a starring role Yoo Ha's noir action film Gangnam Blues (2015), set in the 1970s when the real estate development boom swept across Gangnam. The movie, which co-stars Kim Rae-won, marks Lee's first leading role in a feature film. In 2016, Lee starred in the action comedy Bounty Hunters, directed by Shin Terra. film topped box office charts on its release date and went on to gross US$29 million in China.Later in the year, Lee made his small-screen comeback in the fantasy romance drama Legend of the Blue Sea alongside actress Jun Ji Hyun. Personal Life Lee grew up in a well-raised family that consists of his mother, his father and her only older sister, Lee Yoong Jung. His current agency is the MYM Entertainment in which his older sister, Yoong Jung is the Chief Executive Officer/CEO. He was involved in a relationship with fellow actress Suzy Bae in the beginning of 2015 and later broke up in November 2017. Filmography/Showbiz Projects Film/Movies Television Series Web Series Music Industry Albums Singles Promotional songs/Commercial Jingles Publicity/World Wide Contributions/Awards Ambassador Roles * Honorary Ambassador for UNICEF's Love Net campaign to fight malaria (2009–2010) * PR Ambassador for Konkuk University (2010) * Honorary Prosecutor or basically a PR ambassador for Korean Prosecutor (2012). * PR ambassador for the Chilean campaign "Reforestemos Patagonia" organized by Minoz Chile (2013) * Public Ambassador for 'Korean Tourism Campaign', also called as 'The Face of Korean Tourism' (July 28, 2015) * Honorary Ambassador for the '2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics' (September 25, 2015)\ * PR Ambassador for Visit Korea Year 2016–2018 (November 7, 2015) Social Contributions In 2014, Lee set up the PROMIZ website, a fund-raising platform to raise awareness and encourage donation for social and humanitarian causes. Proceeds from the sale of PROMIZ merchandise are given to the selected partners to execute the charity projects. The site has since raised US$50,000 from him and his fans to help create wells in Malawi through non-profit organisation Charity: Water. It has also raised funds and contributed donations to several causes; such as World Water Day, the "Transparent Umbrella Project" and the “Making Warm Winter for Both Bodies and Hearts” campaign. In 2016, PROMIZ won the Korea Good Brand Awards. In 2015, Lee donated W100 million to UNICEF to aid victims of a devastating earthquake in Nepal. To mark the 10th anniversary since his debut, Lee's fans participated in several charitable causes. Lee's Chinese fans planted 510 trees in Inner Mongolia, while his Mexican fans donated to children stricken with cancer with proceeds earned from selling plastic bottle caps to recycling companies. Taiwanese and Hong Kong fans also made donations to profit organizations World Vision and UNICEF. The previous years, his Chile fan club donated to the humanitarian organization Patagonia Compassion; and also participated in several other charitable causes. Media Influence As of November 2016, Lee has 2.95 million followers on Twitter, 28.8 million and 17 million fans on Weibo and Facebook respectively. In 2014 and 2015 Lee topped an online poll organised by a Chinese entertainment magazine to be crowned as the "Asian Male God". In 2017, Lee was chosen as the Most Favored Korean Actor by fans of the Korean Wave in the United States.